How to Effectively Recruit New Employees through Social Media

Looking to expand your team but don’t know where to start? With over 4 billion active social media users worldwide, leveraging platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for recruitment can help you connect with more potential candidates than ever before.

In this post, we’ll explore why social recruiting is so effective today and provide actionable tips to help you get started. Whether you’re a solopreneur hiring your first employee or an HR manager at a Fortune 500 firm, incorporating social media into your hiring strategy can help you find and attract top talent.

Why Social Media Recruitment Works

Here are some of the key reasons social platforms have become go-to channels for finding new hires:

• Reach more candidates. With billions of active users, social media allows you to promote open positions and engage prospective applicants at an unprecedented scale. You can gain incredible exposure for your employer brand.
• Target specific demographics. Platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook offer detailed targeting options to help you get your job ads in front of relevant audiences. Target by location, education, skills, and more.
• Build genuine connections. Social recruiting lets you establish more authentic relationships with candidates versus traditional job board ads. Engage and build rapport before they even apply.
• Lower cost per hire. Paid ads are affordable on social platforms compared to job board listings. And you can post on your company pages for free. The ROI potential is much higher.
• Evaluate cultural fit. Viewing how prospects interact on social media can provide insights into company culture fit. See if their personal brand aligns with yours.
• Diversity recruiting. The broad reach of social sites provides access to more diverse candidate pools. Target underrepresented groups to build a more well-rounded team.

With these advantages in mind, here are some proven tips to begin sourcing and engaging candidates through social platforms:

Step 1: Choose Your Primary Platform(s)

With so many social sites to choose from, focusing your efforts on one or two key platforms will yield the best results.

LinkedIn is ideal for professional recruiting, while Facebook provides massive general reach. Twitter can also be effective for certain tech roles.

Evaluate which sites your target candidates are most active on and focus there. You can always expand to additional platforms later.

Step 2: Optimize Your Company Page

Be sure your company social pages project an appealing image for prospective applicants.

• Include key details about your company culture, values, and mission. Highlight employee benefits and perks.
• Feature current team members. Let visitors get to know the people they could be working alongside.
• List open positions prominently. Make applying as frictionless as possible.
• Share regular updates showcasing your team, workplace, and recent achievements to build authenticity.

An engaging page encourages followers and builds a talent pipeline.

Step 3: Leverage Paid Advertising

One of the most effective ways to get your open roles in front of interested candidates is through paid social ads.

• LinkedIn makes it easy to target users by job title, skills, education, and more. Reach passive candidates open to new opportunities.
• Facebook provides expansive reach across age groups and locations. Use detailed targeting to home in on promising applicants.
• Twitter ads can help you connect with tech talent by targeting specific hashtags, interests, and follower lists.

Allocate a portion of your hiring budget to test paid ads. The increased visibility can generate a high volume of relevant applicants.

Step 4: Post & Engage Organically

In addition to paid promotion, consistently posting free organic content can further your recruiting goals:

• Share new job listings natively on your social feeds. Invite ideal prospects to apply.
• Cross-promote openings posted on your website and other channels. Maximize visibility.
• Highlight company culture through photos, videos, employee testimonials, and event recaps. Build authentic employer brand appeal.
• Respond to comments & questions from interested candidates. Nurture leads through the funnel.
• Give social followers an inside look at day-to-day work life. Let people envision themselves on your team.

Regular organic sharing keeps your opening top of mind and enables two-way candidate engagement.

Step 5: Join Targeted Groups & Community Pages

Beyond your own social channels, engage prospective talent by joining and participating in relevant external groups and community pages.

• Join industry and role-specific groups on LinkedIn and Facebook to share openings and interact with members. Provide value by answering questions.
• Follow and engage with niche community pages aligned with your target audience. Comment on posts and share job listings when appropriate.
• Participate in relevant hashtags and Instagram challenges. Contribute thoughtfully while promoting your employer brand through a human lens.

Tapping into existing communities expands your reach exponentially through exposure to engaged audiences outside your immediate network.

Step 6: Retarget Engaged Followers

One social recruiting pro tip is to retarget followers who have already expressed interest.

Create lookalike audiences of:

• Site visitors who viewed your Careers page
• Social followers who engaged with your job posts
• LinkedIn members who viewed your Company page

Then, serve them relevant job ads as they browse other sites and apps. This increases touchpoints with warmer prospects.

Step 7: Track & Refine Your Efforts

Like any marketing initiative, you won’t know what’s working if you don’t track key metrics.

Monitor data like:

• Social posts and ad engagement
• Follower growth and reactions
• Traffic to your Careers page
• Job post views and applications

Continually optimize your targeting, content, and strategy based on what moves the needle.

Be patient – it takes time to build an audience of candidates on social platforms through consistent engagement. But over time, you can develop a strong talent pipeline through human-centric social recruiting.

Conclusion

The reach of social platforms combined with advanced targeting and measurement make social recruiting a highly effective modern channel for finding and connecting with your next great hires.

By developing an authentic and engaging presence, promoting openings across paid and organic touchpoints, and continually optimizing your approach – you can build an inbound recruiting machine on social media.

Just remember to keep candidate experience at the heart of your strategy. Provide value, establish connections, and nurture individuals through the hiring journey.

Now it’s time to put these social recruiting tips into action! Be strategic yet creative with your campaigns. And leverage the expansive power of social platforms to take your hiring results to the next level.

Finding the best employee for your business can be tough, but the process just got a lot easier thanks to the tips provided by CareerArc social recruiting solution.

FAQs About Social Recruiting

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about leveraging social media to recruit new team members:

How much budget should I allocate to social recruiting ads?

Start small with $100-200 per month on one platform. Test different targeting approaches and content. Increase budget over time into the $500-1000 range as you identify what performs best.

What image and video content should I share on social?

Post photos and videos that authentically highlight your culture – team events, office views, employees at work, etc. Get consent first. Give candidates a feel for life at your company.

How often should I post on social media for recruiting?

1-2 times per week is ideal. Share a mix of original job postings, employee features, workplace photos/videos, and industry-relevant articles.

How do I source passive candidates on LinkedIn?

Search by job titles and skills. Engage those that would be a fit by liking and commenting on posts. Connect and start a dialog about your company. Proactively invite to apply.

What targeting options are best on Facebook?

Target by location, education, job title, skills, interests (ie HR), and lookalike audiences of your followers. Test different options.

How can I create an employee advocate program on social media?

Ask staff to share job posts with their network. Amplify their personal testimonials about your company. Repost user-generated content.

Should I use a chatbot or automation for recruiting?

This can help at top of funnel to answer basic questions at scale. But take over with 1:1 human interaction when applicants are engaged.

How do I track my social recruiting metrics?

Analytics within each platform plus Google Analytics. Track impressions, clicks, follows, and post engagement. Correlate with site traffic and job views.